Lager, ale & stout: Lager is still trade king

Despite a slight dip in overall sales, lager remains king of the on-trade – accounting for 29.6% of sales in Scotland’s pubs and bars.

Tennent’s reign as Scotland’s number one lager continues, according to CGA data, which revealed the C&C Group-owned brand made up 44% of lager sales in the past year.

And there’s been plenty of activity in both the on and off-trade throughout the year to keep Tennent’s at the fore of consumers’ minds.

More recently, C&C Group turned its focus to beer quality, with the rollout of its TLC programme, which aims to improve the quality of pints poured across the country.

Molson Coors-owned Carling retains its place as the second most popular lager in the Scottish on-trade, while Italian lager Peroni Nastro Azzurro, which was sold to Japanese drinks firm Asahi as part of the merger between AB InBev and SABMiller in 2016, retains its number three spot.

And AB InBev’s Stella Artois has shifted up to fourth place, while Heineken-owned Foster’s rounds out the top five.

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Lager

Tennent’s

Carling

Peroni Nastro Azzurro

Stella Artois

Foster’s

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Stout holds firm

IT’LL come as no surprise to anyone in the trade that Guinness remains the number one stout, with the Diageo-owned brew accounting for a whopping 92% of stout ordered in Scotland’s pubs and bars.

Belhaven Black and Murphy’s take the second and third spots in the category, while Williams Bros’ stout, March of the Penguins, jumped 12 places to secure the number four spot.

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Stout

Guinness

Belhaven Black

Murphy’s

March of the Penguins

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Ale: More of the same

ALE remains the third most valuable category to Scotland’s on-trade, despite a small decrease (4%) in overall sales to £225 million.

The top five brands remain unchanged from last year, with Belhaven Best retaining its spot as category leader – and the nation’s sixth best-selling alcohol brand, which means Deuchars IPA, John Smith’s, Caledonia Best and Brewdog Punk IPA remained the second, third, fourth and fifth most popular ales in Scotland’s pubs and bars, respectively.

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Ale

Belhaven Best

Deuchars IPA

John Smith’s

Caledonia Best

Brewdog Punk IPA

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